Ianni's Olympic soccer roots grew in Lodi

Don Rostomily couldn't have projected how far Patrick Ianni would take his soccer skills while coaching him at Lodi High.

Bob Highfill

Don Rostomily couldn't have projected how far Patrick Ianni would take his soccer skills while coaching him at Lodi High.

But looking back, Rostomily said his former player had all the makings of greatness.

"He was an outstanding player, and he had an outstanding work ethic, and he had outstanding character," said Rostomily, who retired this year from coaching after leading the Flames' varsity boys soccer team for 31 years. "I knew it was one of his long-term goals. I knew he had a chance to do it."

Ianni, 23, was selected on July 17 to the United States' 18-man U-23 national team and will make his first Olympic appearance at 2 a.m. PDT on Thursday against Japan in a Group B preliminary match in Tianjin, China. The Netherlands and Nigeria also are in Group B. The U.S. did not qualify for the Olympics in men's soccer in 2004.

"Making the Olympic team was a goal of mine," Ianni wrote in an e-mail to The Record from China on Monday. "I feel very good about being a part of coach (Peter) Nowak's plans here in China."

Ianni started playing soccer at age 10, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Tayt, who played for the San Jose Clash of Major League Soccer. Ianni competed on several regional, statewide and national youth teams and was a standout at Lodi, earning dozens of accolades before graduating in 2003.

Ianni went to UCLA, where he was the Pacific-10 Conference co-player of the year as a sophomore and a second-team All-American as a junior. He left school a year early to enter the Major League Soccer Super Draft, where he was taken with the eighth overall pick by the Houston Dynamo.

Ianni believes the Americans have the ability to medal in China.

"We are focused on our first game and, ultimately, our group stage because the tournament goes by quickly," Ianni wrote in the e-mail. "And we need a good start to have a chance at advancing and winning a medal."